Volkswagen sales slide accelerates in August

FRANKFURT (Reuters) -- The decline in Volkswagen's group vehicle sales accelerated to 5.4 percent in August, from 3.7 percent in July, with the automaker citing tough markets in Latin America, Russia and China.

Monthly deliveries at the 12-brand group, which includes Audi and Porsche, were 714,400 vehicles, VW said in a statement Friday.

Sales of the core VW brand, which account for 60 percent of group deliveries, slumped by 8.1 percent in August, compared with a 6.9 percent decline in July.

The VW brand is being hit because it has high market shares in countries where the economic situation is tough, VW sales chief Christian Klingler said in the statement.

VW did not break out regional sales figures for the month of August but said that VW brand deliveries in Brazil slumped by about 31 percent in the first eight months, while the brand's sales were down 8.1 percent in China and down 42 percent in Russia.

Klingler said the group is getting tailwinds in Europe and North America.

Through August, the group's European sales increased 3.4 percent to 2.7 million. Deliveries in North America gained 5.8 percent to 618,300 - with a 2.7 rise to 405,400 in the U.S.

Group sales in Russia fell 39 percent to 111,900 in the first eight months. South America volume was down 24 percent to 391,600 with sales plunging 32 percent to 276,300 in Brazil. Group sales in China, the automaker's biggest single market, fell 5.8 percent to 2.26 million.

Porsche, Seat rise most

VW's premium brands, Audi and Porsche, along with its mass-market Skoda and Seat marques, posted sales gains in the first eight months.